Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “I grew up in the countryside of New Zealand, and we regularly drove to a nearby town for supplies. One evening in 1998, around 7:00 p.m., we were driving home. I believe it was spring because the sun was still up, though it was close to dusk.

We were crossing some open plains with a clear line of sight to the horizon when we suddenly noticed two large orbs in the sky only a few hundred metres away.
My mother slammed on the brakes, but we had driven slightly too far and some trees obscured our view. Without thinking about how dangerous it was to reverse in a 100 km/h zone, that’s exactly what she did.

We backed up, and the objects were still there, plainly visible. We both went into shock almost immediately. The orbs were red and appeared to be made of light. However, the light did not seem to illuminate anything around them; nearby objects did not reflect any red light. They also were not painful to look at. The closest comparison I can make is the sun viewed through smoke, dimmed, redder in appearance, but much larger.

We watched in silence as they hovered relatively low in the sky, not far above a house. Then, without warning, they merged together into a single larger orb.

I remember thinking at the time that it was as though their total mass had combined, as the increase in size seemed consistent with that.

A few seconds later, the orb changed shape. It morphed into something resembling a wide-brimmed hat. After changing shape, it accelerated with tremendous speed and shot toward the horizon. It moved so quickly that it disappeared from view within a matter of seconds, not because anything blocked my line of sight, but simply because of the distance it covered.

I use the word “faded” because it genuinely seemed to leave an afterimage. It quite literally faded from view. We were both extremely shaken by the experience. We became overwhelmed with emotion and cried simply because of how unbelievable and intense it was.

I also distinctly remember a sensation of static in the air, as though it was electrically charged.

Once we had calmed down, we drove home and tried to tell my brother and sister what we had seen. As you’d expect, no one took us seriously. While they didn’t accuse us of making it up, they dismissed it as something mundane and thought we were simply being overdramatic.

I don’t often talk about this experience because of how sceptical people tend to be. Over the years, people have suggested everything from atmospheric refraction caused by the sunset to jet engines.

I consider myself a logical person and prefer an evidence-based approach wherever possible. I still remember this event vividly, and as an adult, I have never been able to find a scientific explanation that adequately accounts for what I witnessed. None of the explanations I’ve been offered come close.”